Maintenance alert system for heavy-duty trucks

Abstract

A real-time maintenance alert system and method for use in a heavy-duty truck having an engine controller with memory are provided. The system includes a sensor operative to indicate an engine condition from the group consisting of: oil filter restriction, air filter restriction, fuel filter restriction, oil level, and coolant reserve tank fluid level. Control logic at the engine controller processes the sensor signal to determine a real-time fault condition, when appropriate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to a real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy-duty truck having an engine controller with memory.BACKGROUND ART[0002]In the control of fuel injection systems, electronic control units having volatile and non-volatile memory, input and output driver circuitry, and a processor capable of executing a stored instruction set are utilized to control various functions of the engine and its associated systems. A particular electronic control unit communicates with numerous sensors, actuators, and other electronic control units necessary to control various functions, which may include various aspects of fuel delivery, transmission control, or many others.[0003]In heavy-duty truck applications, in addition to utilizing a highly complex engine controller that monitors the engine conditions so that when required, engine protection and engine shutdown logic may be executed to prevent possible engine damage, some normal service items...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005]It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy-duty truck that allows normal service items of a truck to be checked at a glance, rather than opening the hood to physically check each item.

[0011]The advantages associated with the embodiments of the present invention are numerous. For example, embodiments of the present invention allow normal service items of a truck to be checked at a glance rather than requiring opening of the hood to physically check each item. Further, preferably, control logic for the real-time maintenance alert system operates independently of any existing engine protection or engine shutdown control logic. That is, the maintenance alert system control logic provides an indication when normal service items require maintenance. It is to be appreciated that the maintenance alert system embodiments of the present invention alert a user of a real-time fault condition, based on a sensor measurement, as opposed to based on the passage of time or distance as measured by the odometer since a previous maintenance operation.

Problems solved by technology

As such, it is sometimes undesirably time consuming to tilt the hood and physically check each normal service item of each truck throughout the day at a trucking bay.

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